WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The sweep and pageantry of the United States Supreme Court came right to Indiana Sen. Todd Young's doorstep Tuesday when court nominee Brett Kavanaugh came calling.

Kavanaugh's courtesy call to the state's junior senator was witnessed by several of Young's interns and staff in his outer office and by a jostling scrum of Capitol Hill press corps members. The Courier & Press was present as well when Kavanaugh swept into Young's lobby in the Russell Senate Office building accompanied by a phalanx of U.S. marshals and Capitol Police officers.

The substantial dialogue between Young and Kavanaugh would come minutes later when the two pow-wowed privately in Young's personal office. The brief meeting in Young's lobby was strictly for the cameras.

"It's been great, thank you," Kavanaugh said when Young asked how he is faring. The men paused several seconds, shaking hands as photographers snapped away. And with that, they adjourned to Young's inner sanctum. It was all over in seconds.

Kavanaugh's visit to the Indiana senator's office is part of a time-honored Capitol Hill tradition. Nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court visit senators, hoping to secure their support. Members of the House of Representatives do not vote on Supreme Court nominees.

Outside Young's office, as the meeting went on, U.S. marshals and police declined to say where Kavanaugh was headed afterward or where he had been.

A spokesman for Indiana's other senator, Joe Donnelly, said Tuesday that Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge in Washington, has not as yet scheduled a meeting with Donnelly.

Nominated by Republican President Donald Trump, Kavanaugh can reasonably expect that Young, also a Republican, will support him. Donnelly, a Democrat seeking re-election this year, is more of a question mark.

Senator Todd Young Official Portrait(Photo: Senator Todd Young)

Donnelly's response to Kavanaugh's nomination is being eagerly watched, given that he represents a state Trump won handily in the 2016 presidential election. Donnelly also is one of only three Democrats who voted to confirm Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Democrats likely can defeat Kavanaugh only if the party stays united against him and some Republicans join them.

Donnelly has said little about his intentions beyond vowing to carefully consider Kavanaugh's nomination. Mike Braun, Donnelly's Republican challenger, has said he would support Kavanaugh.

Young told the Courier & Press in his office before Tuesday's meeting that he is "very much inclined" to support Kavanaugh, but he has work to do before making a final decision.

"I think the president's chosen someone with impeccable credentials and an incredible reputation for faithfully interpreting the Constitution and applying the letter of the Constitution to the facts of the given case," Young said. "I am very much inclined to support a nominee like that."

Young added that he still wants to research Kavanaugh's judicial opinions and consult legal experts who know the judge.

The political tea leaves point to a likelihood that Young will support Kavanaugh, and the senator hinted at it himself Tuesday. Indiana gave more than 56 percent of its votes in 2016 to Trump. Young defeated Democrat Evan Bayh the same year with 52 percent of the vote.

"In the end, I'm going to be voting for the sort of nominee that Hoosiers in large measure, I think, elected me to confirm," Young said.